1. Charles "Honi" Coles was an American actor and tap dancer, who was inducted posthumously into the American Tap Dance Hall of Fame in 2003.
32 Facts About Charles Coles
1. 2.
Charles Coles had a distinctive personal style that required technical precision, high-speed tapping, and a close-to-the-floor style where "the legs and feet did the work".
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Charles Coles appeared in the films The Cotton Club and Dirty Dancing, as well as the documentary Great Feats of Feet.
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Charles Coles was a tap-dancing companion of tap dancer Brenda Bufalino, the founder and director of the American Tap Dance Foundation.
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Charles "Honi" Coles was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on April 2,1911.
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Charles Coles was the son of George and Isabel Coles.
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George Charles Coles was an owner of a pool hall and a barbershop, while Isabel Charles Coles was a domestic servant.
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When Charles Coles was a child, his sister took care of him and gave Charles Coles the nickname "Honey".
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Later, when he was around 14 or 15 years old, Charles Coles belonged to a club called the Jolly Buccaneers and changed the spelling of his nickname to "Honi".
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Charles Coles practiced alone for a year to enhance his skill set, including speed, number of taps per beat, and complicated patterns.
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However, his partners hired another dancer to replace him, so Charles Coles moved back to Philadelphia with a determination to perfect his fast-step style.
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When practicing at Joe Price's acrobatics studio in downtown New York, Charles Coles encountered some white dancers who came to challenge him.
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However, after Charles Coles showed them his routines, the dancers walked away with confusion about his talent.
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At the Hoofer's Club, a challenging stage for most talented tap dancers to compete in Harlem, Charles Coles was still considered "the most graceful dancer ever seen" by his peers.
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From 1936 to 1939, Charles Coles replaced a member of the Lucky Seven Trio, who were the rivals to the Millers.
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In 1938, Charles Coles teamed up with a comedian and then went single again.
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Charles Coles and Atkins soft-shoe was a masterpiece in adagio dancing, but their most significant achievement was the assemblage of tap dancers in a class act with a set musical arrangement coming from the bands.
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Charles Coles opened a dance studio with Pete Nugent, while Atkins became a vocal coach for many vocal bands.
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Honi Charles Coles met Brenda Bufalino during this period at his Dance Craft studio.
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At his dance studio, Charles Coles taught his fast-rhythm tap dancing and his other tap steps to Bufalino.
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Additionally, Charles Coles served as the president of the Negro Actors Guild and continued his association with the Copasetics, a club for musical and tap artists to preserve the memory of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson.
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In 1962, Charles Coles performed at the Newport Jazz Festival, and his performance brought veteran members of the Copasetics back to the stage.
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Charles Coles joined the tour of Bubbling Brown Sugar and performed the role of John Sage in 1976.
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Charles Coles regained his popularity as a soloist, and was able to perform at Carnegie Hall and Town Hall.
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In 1978, after receiving compliments for his performance in the Joffrey Ballet production of Agnes de Mille's Conversations on the Dance, Charles Coles emphasized the influence of tap dance in the world of concert dance.
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In 1983, Charles Coles performed with Tommy Tune in My One and Only, a Broadway musical show at the St James Theater.
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In 1984, Charles Coles appeared in Jane Goldberg's The Tapping Talk Show, which was presented at the Village Gate from March 2 to March 3.
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Charles Coles has appeared in the films The Cotton Club and Dirty Dancing, as well as the documentary "Great Feats of Feet".
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In 1944, Charles Coles married Marion Evelyn Edwards, a dancer in the Number One chorus at the Apollo Theater, and together, Charles Coles and his wife had two children.
30.
On November 6,2009, his wife Marion Charles Coles died in Queens County, New York, at the age of 94.
31.
In 1983, Charles Coles received the Tony Award, Fred Astaire Award, and Drama Desk Award for best-featured actor and dancer in My One and Only, a popular Broadway musical starring Tommy Tune.
32.
Charles Coles was awarded the Dance Magazine Award in 1985 and the Capezio Award for lifetime achievement in dance in 1988.